The 35-year-old forward announced earlier this season that he will retire at the end of the campaign, bringing an end to an illustrious career.

Speaking to Voetbal International about his retirement, Van Persie said,”That will certainly be a strange sensation in the beginning. I will be active in football for exactly seventeen years, regardless of the years in the youth. If all of that suddenly disappears .. I’m looking forward to it and I’m a little disappointed, but my decision is fixed. A friend of mine described it well, if you stop playing football, you experience a small crisis in your life. Nemanja Vidic, with whom I played at Manchester United, said it aptly: ” You now become the coach of your own life ”. As a footballer you do not have to do much yourself, everything is ready or ready. That time is over now. “

Van Persie is now hoping to enjoy his final six months with Feyenoord and is aiming to lift the KNVB Cup, “I came back to Feyenoord for fun. At Fenerbahçe I had lost that and in Rotterdam I found it again. I just want to play some good matches now and would like to win the cup. That would be perfect, but I will still look back on my career with a good feeling.”

Will Van Persie seek a farewell match? He isn’t bothered, “A farewell match with the Dutch team, or Feyenoord? I don’t need it. It feels so forced, eh. I have had enough interest in my career. I just want to enjoy football for a few more months. I am fit, equipped and ready. “

What next for the forward? “At least take a little distance, enjoy my family, do things that previously were not possible, like playing other sports. Then I see what comes my way. I am happy that I can direct my farewell in this way. What I have achieved, I had not dared to dream in the past, World Cup final in South Africa, third place in Brazil, Feyenoord, Arsenal, Manchester United, Fenerbahçe .. I have lived in a great bubble for years, but soon it’s time for a new life of which I do not yet know what exactly it will bring me. I am very curious about it, but not before I have closed in a good way at Feyenoord.”